The collection and disposition of refuse, common commercial and domestic waste and trash and recyclables colloquially referred to as garbage, has become highly sophisticated, mechanized and automated. Initially, the refuse is deposited and temporarily stored in a conveniently located container. Subsequently, the container is moved to a collection site where the contents of the container are received by a refuse collection vehicle for ultimate transfer to a disposal site. The vehicle, usually operating on a regular periodic schedule, is generally capable of accommodating numerous containers.
Refuse containers for the instant purpose are readily commercially available in various sizes, types, and configurations. Common, for example, are stationary containers and portable containers, large containers and small containers, and round containers and square containers. Large round containers, usually permanently positioned at a central location for multiple users, have a capacity ranging to four hundred gallons and a diameter as large as forty-eight inches. Square containers, with a transverse measurement in the range of fourteen inches to twenty-nine inches, have a nominal capacity of forty to ninety gallons. Having capacities beginning at approximately thirty gallons and diameters of fifteen inches, small round containers are frequently fitted with wheels for mobility. Such wheeled containers are used in residential areas, which are wheeled back-and-forth from the curb for curb-side collection commensurate with the periodic collection schedule.
The foregoing measurements and geometric configurations are taken in cross-section at the gripping surface or perimeter which typically resides approximately twenty-eight inches above the supporting surface. In actuality, each container is defined by a continuous, upright sidewall having a taper in the general range of four to seven degrees which accommodates mold release and stacking. Preferably fabricated of polyethylene by various conventional molding processes, the typical container is characterized by a relatively flexible sidewall having a substantially smooth exterior surface, an opening for the transfer of refuse to and from the container, and a lid used to open and close the opening.
The conventional refuse collection vehicle includes a cab, a body and a container handling mechanism carried upon a wheeled chassis. The container handling mechanism is controlled remotely by an operator from within the cab of the collection vehicle. The body is generally bipartite, having a hopper and a stowage bin for respectively receiving and stowing refuse. Refuse handling means, usually termed a packer, transfers and compacts refuse from the hopper to the stowage bin.
Typically, the container handling mechanism includes a gripping apparatus carried at the end of a lifting member or boom which is extendable and retractable relative to the curb or pick-up side of the vehicle. During travel of the vehicle, the container handling mechanism resides in a retracted position with the gripping apparatus juxtaposed along the side of the vehicle. After the vehicle is brought to a stop, the boom is extended and the gripping apparatus engaged about the container. The boom is then elevated to position the container atilt or inverted over the hopper for deposit of the refuse. Successively, the boom is lowered, the container released upright, and the container handling mechanism retracted for stowage during subsequent movement of the vehicle.
After containers have been emptied, they are repositioned to a convenient location and are used to take on refuse until the next scheduled collection period, at which point the containers are again moved to the appointed collection site. Oftentimes efforts are made to reposition the containers before they have been emptied, which is a waste of time and energy and is, moreover, frustrating. To alleviate this problem, there is a need in the art for a convenient and efficient way to indicate whether a container has been emptied and ready to be moved from the appointed collection site back to the convenient location for rubbish collection in preparation for the next scheduled collection period.